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“Omelettes – Plain or with Rum”

Where in culinary history did I miss the inclusion of rum in an omelet? New York Public Library announced recently the availability of thousands of their images in the public domain available for free and open use. A long-time fan of their What’s on the Menu? crowd-sourced transcription project, I found this Pullman Dining Car breakfast menu from the train carrying William McKinley’s body to rest after his assassination. Breakfast was so much more hearty in the 19th century. Pass on the wan cereal – I’ll have the mackerel or steak with mushrooms. As for the NYPL, their online digital records also have an “item timeline” which indicates when the object was generated, acquired, digitized, and accessed by the user. It’s kind of a fun, accessible way to indicate to the library’s audience how the collection is being used through time.

As for the rum omelette, it not only included rum, but was brought to the table flaming. Read this Gothamist article on rum omelettes. Seems a bit festive for a funeral train.

About Becky Fifield

Becky Fifield is a cultural heritage professional with 25 years experience in institutions large and small. She is currently Head of Collection Management for the Special Collections of the New York Public Library. An advocate for preventive conservation, Ms. Fifield is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation, Chair of the AIC Collection Care Network, and former Chair of Alliance for Response NYC. She is also a scholar of 18th century female unfree labor and dress. There's a bit of pun in the title The Still Room, delineating a quiet space brimming with the ingredients of memory, where consideration, analysis, and wordcraft can take place. Ms. Fifield’s interests include museum practice, dress history, historic preservation, transit, social and women’s history, food, current events, geneaology, roadtrips, and considerations on general sense of place. Becky and her husband, Dr. V, live in the Hudson Valley.